Upcoming NFL draft could be idle time for New England Patriots

The Patriots approach Thursday’s start of the NFL draft with just five picks, one less than the franchise low of six they exercised in 2002. Nick Caserio, the Pats’ director of player personnel, says the team will ‘take it as it comes’ when the three-day draft unfolds.

As the 2013 NFL Draft approaches – the first round kicks off Thursday at 8 p.m. – the Patriots currently hold the fewest selections in the history of the franchise.

“If we have five picks, we have five picks,” Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio said at the team’s predraft press conference at Gillette Stadium on Monday afternoon. “We’ll take it as it comes.

“I don’t think it changes our philosophy. We’re going to know the board top to bottom like we do every year and if there’s an opportunity that presents itself, that makes sense, then we’ll consider it. If not, I think you always have to be prepared to pick regardless of how many picks that you have.”

The Patriots’ most pressing areas of need at the moment are at wide receiver and in the secondary (two positions where they’ve traditionally struggled to draft talent) and, to a lesser extent, in the defensive line, but with just one pick in each of the first three rounds and two in the seventh there aren’t a multitude of resources to address them.

“I think there’s some depth (in the secondary),” said Caserio. “I think there’s some versatility at the position. The offensive line is a good group. There’s some good players in that group. And there’s a fair amount of receivers.”

Following Thursday night’s opening round, the draft continues with the second and third rounds Friday at 6:30 p.m. and concludes with the final four rounds beginning at noon Saturday.

So, how did the Patriots get here?

How did the Patriots reach the point in the draft where they currently own just five picks, one fewer than the six they exercised in 2002?

They traded their fourth-round pick to Tampa Bay (126th overall) on Nov. 1 of last year, receiving Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib and a seventh-round choice (originally Chicago’s) in return. In July 2011, they made the mistakes of sending their fifth-round choice (162nd) to Washington for defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth and their sixth rounder (197th) to Cincinnati as part of the deal for wide receiver Chad Johnson.

That’s left the Patriots with their own picks in the first (29th overall), second (59th), third (91st) and seventh rounds (235th), plus the Bears’ choice from Tampa Bay in the final round (226th).

With a long gap between selections – none in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds – the likelihood the team will trade down at some point in the draft for additional picks is strong.

Page 2 of 2 - “The most important thing is to try to do whatever we can to help our team win games,” said Caserio. “So whatever shape that takes, then that’s what we’ll do.”